There are some key questions you should ask yourself to determine if your organization is grant proposal ready. And, if you're not ready, there are plans you can put in motion to get your organization on the right track.

1. Is your organization
grant proposal ready?
Lauren Brownstein

2. Grant Proposal: Ready! Set! Go?
Writing the grant proposal… Submitting the
proposal… Carrying out the program… Reporting
on the results…
Here are some tips to help you figure out if your
nonprofit organization is grant proposal ready.

3. There are some key questions you should
ask yourself:

4. Why are we writing this grant proposal?
Is it because we are desperate to raise money, by any means
necessary? Is it because we heard about a grant opportunity and
we think we can probably maybe kinda sorta write up something
that matches the donor’s interests? If this is why you are writing a
proposal, stop right now. However, if you’re writing up a proposal
to raise funds for a project that has been in the works for a while
and is well thought out, or if you are writing a well-reasoned grant
proposal to raise general operating support, you’re probably in
the right place to move forward.

5. Can we meet the proposal deadline?
(If there is a specific deadline) And can we meet the
deadline without burning out our staff or letting other
important things fall apart?

6. Can we complete the entire proposal –
submitting not just the narrative (description of the project or
organization) but also all of the ancillary material, like
budgets, audits, board lists, etc.?

7. Can we actually carry out the program that is described in
the grant proposal?
Do we want to carry out the program?

8. If we get a grant, and there are reporting requirements
(such as submitting a report with data twice per year),
can we meet those requirements?

9. Do we have all of the information we need in order to
complete the proposal?
If there are key pieces of information that we do not have
right now, how difficult will it be to get them?

10. What if you are not grant
proposal ready?
It takes a strong leader to admit that you
might not be ready to pursue an
opportunity. Start by patting yourself on
the back! And then, set your plans in
motion.

11. I strongly believe that every nonprofit organization should have a
general operating support proposal ready at all times. Not only
can you use that proposal to pursue general operating funds, but
portions of the text can form the basis of a project proposal, as
well (I’m also a big fan of recycling content whenever you can!).
Start making plans to create a general operating support
proposal. Schedule it in your calendar – set aside the time. It may
be tough to make the time for it in the short term, but it will pay
huge dividends in the long term.

12. Take a look at your organization’s overall fundraising
picture. If you approached this grant proposal opportunity
with a sense of desperation… ask yourself why. Are
there other areas of your fundraising operations that you
should build up, so you are not so desperate for those
new grants to come in? If current foundation donors are
not renewing their grants, why not? Are one-time
individual donors being converted to repeat donors?

13. If you didn’t have all of the ancillary materials and
information you needed to complete the proposal (like
budgets or board lists), start establishing a file for those
items now, so you can grab them at a moment’s notice
and update them periodically.
Look at how your organization makes plans for its
programs and operations. Are you planning programs
that you don’t actually have the bandwidth to carry out?
Determine if you need to narrow your focus or
temporarily pull back on activities.

14. Being grant proposal ready is a sign of
organizational health. If your organization needs a
check-up, use this opportunity to get healthier so
you can pursue future opportunities with vigor!

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Lauren Brownstein